my small gift to you…

I think about my family, and how very blessed I am to have them all, safe and sound, tucked snugly in their beds.

I think about what my children will become…what they are now.

I think about Matt and how lucky I am to have him. How much I want to be for him…for what I want for us. How happy I am we’re right where we should be.

I think about where I got to go this year, and how amazing it was…

and where I want to end up.

Beyond all of that, I think about lots of people in lots of places.

Certainly, the rest of my family, and my friends…some of whom are the strongest, wisest, bravest, and most genuine people I’ve ever known.

Friends I’ve made this year.

I think about Kevin and Layla, and their possible TV show–I wish nothing but the BEST for them. I think about how natural they are, together and with others.

I think about Marian, and her new adventure in writing her book…I’m amazed at her talent & energy. I think about how I sort of want to be like her when I grow up. (if you’re reading this, Marian, I’ll never forget how you stopped what you were doing–probably a lot–to pray with me over the phone.)

I think about Ashley, and all that she’s accomplished this year…I’m so proud for her and of her. I think about roads she’ll be taking this year, and praying for a smooth drive.

I think about Rhoda. Man, do I think about her. That woman is REAL, people. REAL strong. Loves REAL. Lives her faith REAL.

I think about Myra’s selflessness and sweet spirit. She is so quietly inspiring–I hope she knows what she means to me.

I think about all the kind and amazing women I’ve met this year: Kate, Traci, Chris, Beth, Sarah, Shannan, Beckie, Lisa, Lori….and so many more! I wonder what they’ll be doing on Sunday…who they’ll get to see, how their faces will look on Christmas morning.

Let’s be honest…how their houses will look. (they’ll be quite gorgeous, you know)

But I also think about people I haven’t met.

I think about Jennifer’s new baby, Lola, and Jessica’s Landry, and what a fun Christmas morning it will be for them and their newest additions.

I think about how Edie gets to spend the holidays in her new, beautiful home. I think of her and her resilient Spirit quite often.

I wonder if Ree always looks so beautiful and what she’ll have whipped up for her family. I think about the kindness she has shown me the two short times I’ve had a chance to speak with her.

I think about Ana–how they’ll certainly have a white Christmas and am thankful for the opportunities she has sent my way. I also think about how I’m so impressed and blown away by her humble heart.

I think about Shannon, and her new ebook–I know what work it takes and how proud she must be.

I think about Jess, and the recognition she and her family have received. What a blessing and fun surprise–she could not be more kind, by the way.

I think about how 2 years ago, this blog started with a full heart and a kind sister-in-law to sign up as “follower” #1.

**In thankfulness of the last 2 years, I wanted to give you something. It’s small. And as my very small gift to you, because of the blessing you are to me, I’d like to ask you a question. It may seem strange, but I feel pulled to ask.

What could I pray about for you?

It could be small, or big, light or heavy. Just anything I could pray over this holiday for you. I’m serious…I know not everyone who reads the blog knows me well enough to know if I would really do that. Let me say this: It would truly be an honor.

So, this year, nothing would make me happier than to receive 1,000 prayer requests from you guys.

I have seen quite a lot of joy in the last few years, and also a lot of grief. It constantly reminds me we are all dealing with something. Big or small, we’re dealing with it. And sometimes it just helps knowing that someone out there is thinking of you, simply being there.

If you’re up for it, I’ll ask you to pray that I am constantly open to growing as a woman, wife, and mother. To be more long-suffering with my children and to teach them to be so as well. To be slower to frustration, to be OK in the waiting, to love people first always and ask questions later. To see the world with fresh eyes.

So, let me do this thing for you if you’d like….just leave a comment here or feel free to email me at shaunna@harristire.com. Please pass it along, too. I can always enlist backup.

I’d love to share the truest joy I can with each of you this Christmas. I am better because of each of you.

80 Comments

My husband is a 1st year resident in pediatrics. Residency is HARD for us, much harder than med school was. We have had many months when we don’t have a day off work together all month. We’ve even had a month that he was on nights & we were on EXACT opposite schedules so we rarely saw each other at all that month. He also has to work both Christmas Eve & Christmas Day, so I will spend at least part of those days alone. He’s on newborn right now. Anyway, we still have 2.5 years of residency to get through, then another 3 years of fellowship before it’s all done. I guess I need prayers to help us work to stay connected in the little times we can steal together & that I can stay strong working & keeping everything going with our home basically on my own. Thank you so much for this… you make me want to smile & cry at the same time 🙂

Shaunna oh my goodness I have tears in my eyes right now. You are such a beautiful person, inside and out! I am so happy that I have met you and so many others virtually through blogging. I was just thinking the other day how blogging has changed my life & the feeling of so many new friends that share in my life and how they share “their” life with me is just simply, amazing. Your heart is just amazing as well 🙂 Thank you so much for mentioning our family in your post. I truly am grateful 🙂

I’ve been struggling with anxiety, panic attacks and agoraphobia for years now and was just recently diagnosed with PTSD. I’ve made much improvement but I still have so far to go yet. It’s becoming a bigger issue now as my son is in kindergarten this year and there are activities and things at the school that he wants his mommy there for. I’ve been able to go to a few but I miss out on so many more things like the yearly county fair, company picnics at the park, etc. It breaks my heart each time I have to tell him that mommy can’t go, that she’s not feeling well today. I want to be out there, living and enjoying life with my family in a way that I can’t yet while saddled with this crippling anxiety disorder.

Thank you so much for this wonderous gift. It means more than words can express. May God continue to bless you and yours also.

Awww girl, what a precious, precious post! I am so blessed to have gotten to know you so much more this year. You have blessed me in SO SO many ways. I love you and pray for you often. Blessings to you and your family this Christmas and this coming year!!! xoxoxo

This is my last 2 weeks at a job that I have had more than 20+ years and it will end December 30, 2011. I have prayed for a “quality” job so that I can continue to support my children in their endeavors to become musicians. I will sacrifice all I have so they can become good, God fearing and self-sufficient young people. I ask for nothing but peace in our world and to have all the children who are abused, hurt, homeless, hungry, and need loving parents to find that home that they will find peace and love and never want. I will pray for you and your family. I hope your life keeps full and happy and those little ones of yours are just too cute! Merry Christmas.

I believe in the power of prayer. I am one of those miracles you prayed for last year. My brain cancer has not reared it’s ugly head for over a year. With strength from prayers our family is adjusting to an uncertain future. Thank you for being you! You are special and God recognizes it. May your family enjoy health and happiness this holiday and the whole year through. You are in our thought and prayers!

Prayers for my husband to find a job. He was terminated unfairly right as we moved into a new rental home. The stress of money being cut in half is wearing on all of us. Simply buying groceries right now is difficult.

This is so very sweet of you…and not a small gift at all. It’s the biggest gift anyone could give!
My dad recently had a heart attack. He came home from the hospital yesterday, Dec 19th. He is recovering now.
Please pray for my family (The Clarks)during the holidays. He has seven children and most of us cannot be with him during the holiday.
Bless You! Merry Christmas to you and your family!

What a beautiful post! It made me teary for sure – but also reminded me to to STOP and be STILL and thank God for all that He’s done this year.
I’d be SO honored if you’d pray for my dad. He’s gotten very sick this year and nothing the doctors are doing seems to be working. We are trusting in God’s faithfulness and in His provision in the midst of what seems like an impossible situation.
Thank you for your prayers, for your support this year and for constantly reminding us all what TRULY matters!
You are loved by SO many,
Emily Knotts
Crisp Interiors

Emily, what a very beautiful thing you just said. I’m certainly in tears all over again. You guys mean more to me than you know. Praying for your dad and for you all as you support him! Loving y’all right back,
shaunna

Oh, Shaunna, you are SO precious!! loved this post and all of your mentions. thank you for thinking of me. I am honored and blessed to have you as a friend and so glad we got to meet & get to know each other this year. I pray it continues for many years. This blogworld has completely turned my life upside down with all the new friendships and blessings that have come my way in the last 5 years. In spite of a difficult year, God has richly blessed me and allowed me to do what I love and make it a business. That is so huge! And with that comes all these great friendships as a big bonus. You, my dear, are a precious friend to me! Have a wonderful sweet Christmas with your family! HOpe to see you soon!

Beautiful, Shaunna. Prayer is such a lovely thing, and I’m constantly thankful for the opportunity to cover others with it. I will certainly pray for the things you expressed; they happen to be the same things I struggle with, too! Instead of prayer though, I’d like to ask you to praise on my behalf instead of pray: we’re so blessed. We have jobs, which in Michigan is no small thing. We love what we do. Our kids are healthy. We have kids (once infertile, I know this is huge). Money is tight, but sufficient. A year ago we were literally counting pocket change to make ends meet; not so this year, so I’m just feeling so much joy in sufficiency and needs met. Merry Christmas to you and yours!

You made me cry! I would appreciate prayers for my beautiful, 17 year old daughter- Lisa -who is dealing w/severe depression and anxiety (it runs in our family). She recently told me she doesn’t care and she doesn’t want to live. She says she doesnt.have a “plan” but it is sad and terrifying. We immediately went to the doctor and are treating her but prayer would be very much appreciated. Thank you. Tammy

She shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD. (Psalms 118,17) AMEN!
I went through it too and this helped me a lot proclaiming it, even if I didn’t want to, because in this circumstances one is unable to want anymore. it’s important that others keep the faith for you. blessings for you and especially for your daughter,
barbara from switzerland

Tammy… earlier this year my 16 yr old son walked into his guidance counselor’s office with a note that said he was depressed, self-harming and suicidal and needed help. It has been a hell of a year for us and I know right where you are right now. You have my thoughts and prayers. It is hard, and scary and you will get through this. Hugs for you and for her.

Thank you for sharing your wisdom, your talents and your adventurous life with me. I have been inspired and encouraged. I have painted my new granddaughter’s nursery furniture with chalk paint because of your inspiration and instructional videos. What a blessing you have been in my life this year. You could pray for my daughter and her new daughter, Talie Joy. Our daughter was a freshman in college at her dream school last year when one night she decided to live like the other girls because it looked like they were having more fun than she was. That is the night she conceived. This little girl is going to be an absolute delight to our lives when she is born next month and we are excited. However, it has been difficult to watch the price she is paying. She is embarrassed but making the best of it and she is going to be an amazing mommy. She has bought oodles of books, looking forward rocking that little one to sleep and reading for hours on end. Anyway, if you would please pray that God will make his plan and purposes clear to her. She is not sure if she should continue with her educational goals (a degree in international business & marketing) – or take a quicker route to have a stable job and income (a degree such as dental hygiene). Her gifts and her talents are in business – she is incredibly smart that way. Her dad and I will do whatever it takes to help her get to where God wants her to be. Bless you and have a Merry Christmas!

Love this post Shaunna, so touching and I too had tears in my eyes. As we rush through this crazy week, wrapping, last minute shopping, baking, cleaning, packing and traveling, I pray that I can just pause even for a moment to reflect and to enjoy the wonder of Christmas and of the birth of Jesus Christ. Wishing you and your family a very Blessed and Merry Christmas!

What an amazing thing to do! Not only for you to pray for others, but truly you are uniting all of us that follow your posts in prayer for one another. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I’ve certainly taken time to read the comments before mine and send those prayers up with my own. My prayer request for you is not for myself, but for a friend. I’m thankful for all that I have – my health, my family, and our ability to live a quiet happy life just where we are, so I want to dedicate some prayers to my friend Elliot. Elliot is 36, a mom of 2 (6 yr old son & 3 yr old daughter) and is receiving treatment for ovarian cancer. I have learned so much from her as she’s been on this journey, a journey that has been full of pitfalls… She is so strong of spirit and faith even through the hardest time of her life that she inspires me. Please pray not only for her treatment, but also for her and her family’s continued strength and endurance through all of this.

And one last request – for my son’s preschool teacher, also young. Her husband is very ill and awaiting a living liver donation. My her and her family’s prayers for his health be answered. And may their stress be lifted if only for a day to enjoy the happiness and joy the christmas spirit brings.

I admire you for your offer to pray. I would ask that you pray for my youngest daughter to give up her anger, find GOD, and focus on school. For myself and my husband…that we would both hear God’s word on where we need to work, whether that means staying where we are or moving to a new city.. Thank you so much!

What a wonderful post. Our family is very blessed, but others are not so. My prayer request is for a little boy who is battling cancer and his family. Pray that God give them the strength they need and that he has a miraculous recovery. Thank you and merry Christmas.

I, too, admire your offer to pray and your willingness to be exactly who you are and not be afraid of that! I would ask you to pray for me and my journey as a stay-at-home-mom. I always envisioned myself as a working mother, but that just didn’t happen for me. I realize my position is envied by others and that I should be grateful, but this role is not an easy one for me to play. I struggle with trying to stay busy. I have a huge tendency to become lazy and bored if I don’t have a set schedule of things to do in a day. Also, I struggle with self worth. I worked before I had my child (now 15 months old) and it made me feel good about myself, like I was accomplishing something. Now, being a SAHM, I feel lost and without a purpose. I have started blogging just a little bit, hoping it will give me something to do that I enjoy that I can still do while I’m home with my child. Please pray that I push myself and continue to blog and find ways to grow, make friends, and enrich my child’s life.

Hi Shaunna!
As much as I am inclined to ask for a few prayer request for myself, I have been reflecting a lot lately about doing more for others and so I pray for peace of mind for those I love and those I don’t even know. I pray for stillness and to enjoy that moment when the world has momentarily stopped. I pray for a illness free year for all my family (and new family) and I pray that we are all open to what life brings our way, even if it isn’t in the form we hoped it would be. I pray for more spirituality and faith in one man’s life and for him to truly feel unconditional love.

Oh my goodness! How your sweet gentle sprint shines though..You are breathe of fresh air and beautiful light which touched my heart this morning. THANK YOU. My husband and I have been trying to have a baby for 5 years and are believing for a miracle..We need his Sperm count to increase..We appreciate you taking time to pray for us in advance…MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

First off, this is a massive gift and such a beautiful one. Thank you.
I just got married this past November and my husband and I live in the tiny town of Starkville, MS. He’s a graduate with a degree in Civil Engineering and I’m still finishing up a degree in Art with a concentration in photography. I’m asking for prayer in the fight for joy. I know God has me here in Starkville for a reason. He knows that I feel like I’m living in a place where there are no opportunities. He knows my dreams. I’m asking for prayer for attitude that is submissive to the Lord’s will, courage to be a friend and witness to those who need it, and strength to find a church and be apart of it, not just attend it. Sorry – this is a lot more than one request!

Thank you so much. You are such a blessing. Merry Christmas to you and your family!

Wow. All I can say is wow, and thank you. The people who have already posted have said it much more eloquently than I ever could, but thank you. Your words and spirit brought me to tears for the first time in a long time. This year has been kind of rough for me and my family. Within one week in June my mother was diagnosed with a very rare, progressive, autoimmune disorder called Stiff Person Syndrome, and a tornado hit our house and neighborhood. We were incredibly lucky that no one was hurt and our house was still livable, but others weren’t as fortunate. It has been very hard to see my mom struggle within the confines of her illness (which includes using a wheelchair and relying a lot on others). She can’t live the life she had always planned on and is really struggling to accept that. Please pray for her acceptance and strength to keep fighting and not to give up, and that she remembers that God does love her and is there for her. Thank you again, and merry Christmas!

Shaunna, I am overwhelmed and my eyes filled with tears. I am new follower of your blog and I love it! I am so honored as well as thankful that you would pray for me and I count prayer an awesome, awesome privilege. So here’s mine (I’m learning to let go and ask others to pray, realizing I don’t have to do it all on my own)…
I am a single mom of two teenage girls. My, then, husband left our family seven years ago and although it’s been wonderful how the Lord has shown himself to me in ways I never imagined, I am tired and weary. I miss having a partner, I need help financially and with my girls. Yes, He certainly does give strength to the weary and He is the perfect provider, but I miss that partner, that person to lay my head by at night, to laugh with and to love, to create a home with and to be there for my girls. This time of year especially, I seem to have more difficulty and miss it more. I lost my dad 2 years ago and brother 3 years ago and they were such great “stand-in”s for my girls and me, but now, their absences are felt so much.
I look at pictures of people with their husbands and I thank the Lord for them and then I hope in my spirit that they are protected from that which destroys. So, there’s my request. I need a husband, a helper, a companion and I know that God knows the desires of my heart and that His timing and plan is perfect.
Thank you, thank you so much. I am touched and blessed.
Merry Christmas,
Joy

That is such a sweet, unselfish thing for you to do. I read your blog regularly, and love it. I do wish to request prayer for my family, our father passed away a few months ago, and my sister is having such a hard time with it. She has cut herself off from me, and I wish for reconciliation. Also, my son needs direction. He is such a good guy, but I feel helpless. Blessed Holidays to you and yours,
and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

My husband has Parkinson’s Disease. He is 58 years old and on disability right now. Please pray that the doctors will be able to balance his medicine so that he can be in a better plance – maybe even back to work. Pray that I will always be loving and caring to him and our daughter (13 years old – a real teenager!) May God bless you this Christmas.

I am so glad I found your blog earlier this year. You are always so uplifting in your posts and truly are beautiful, inside and out. Thank you for thinking of your readers this Christmas season. I pray that God blesses you and your family and helps you grow together as a spiritual unit this coming year.

My husband is a Marine and will be leaving for his third deployment in January. We have three children: Mark is three and a half, Gianna is two and a half and Charlotte is 15 months old. Will you please pray that I will be stronger than I think I can be? Having gone thru two deployments already, I’m having a hard time getting ready for this one and I know it will be hard on the kiddos to be without their daddy for so long. Thank you so much for offering to pray…I really need it right now!

I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas making lots of memories!
God Bless,
Amanda

Wow- I was quite taken aback by your gift and very moved… not what I was expecting but I love your spirit of servanthood and your desire to petition on behalf of all these who are your readers. I don’t know you but I do know you and I know that we are sisters in Christ. Sometimes I really wish I lived closer to you and the other Alabama/Southern blogging girls because I feel like you are my friends even though we have never met. Please pray for me as a mom… I have 2 sweet young girls but I don’t always have patience and I am striving very hard to have words of affirmation and encouragement- not words that will hurt or wound. My tongue is too quick and I often regret what I say as soon as I have said it. I want to exemplify the love that Jesus has for us to my babies and I fail miserably. Please pray for me this week and thank you for your godly example… you are a blessing even across the miles and through blogland!! Merry Christmas~

Such a huge gift to give!! I’m on disability for kidney failure, and am in the process of foreclosure for my house. But my prayer that I ask is that I am where God wants me to be.
Thanks to you, and other bloggers in the faith, I am becoming more focused on Him. Thank you, and Happy Christmas to you and yours, for this year, and many years to come!

I’ve had such a hard time the last couple of years. Financial problems up the wazoo and now a broken love affair. It’s almost too much, and if it weren’t for my faith, I’d have pulled the plug a while ago. Please pray that my burdens become less heavy and that I stay close to Spirit. Thanks. Bless you.

Wow, I can’t hardly type because of the tears in my eyes. God bless you, Shaunna for opening up your heart to all of us.

I really struggle with taking care of myself, health-wise. It has become a real problem so I would ask that you say a little prayer that I am provided with strength to live a healthy lifestyle so that my body can heal. I take care of my disabled husband and it is really difficult when I can’t hardly take care of myself.

Thank you for the sunshine you provide in every one’s lives. Merry Christmas to you and your beautiful family,
Marie

Oh, Shaunna. This post was so well worded and a lot of those same people have touched my life as well. I am so happy for you and all of your success and open doors this year. You are amazing in so many ways…and not just in DIY things. I love you, girl, and look forward to more phone calls and adventures and successes together next year.
xo, Marian

Shaunna,
I am so touched by your posting. I actually had tears streaming down my face as I read it. It made me realize that I need to account for all of the amazing people in my life. We don’t do that nearly enough. You are so selfless and inspiring. Thank you for that.
I heard about your blog this fall through an acquaintance and have been following it ever since.
It has been a difficult year for me and my family financially. Up until now I have been blessed to be a stay at home mom, but it is time for me to go back to the working world. I am scared, not sure of where I fit in anymore, but know it is time. I ask that you pray for my family as we navigate this difficult time and for me to find my way. Thank you.
Happy Holidays to you and your beautiful family. Thank you for all the inspiration you bring to our lives and homes.
Shannon

Dear Shaunna,
I have a sister-in-law who has been fighting leukemia for the last several years. She recently had stem-cell transplants. If you would pray for her and my whole family to have a happy and healthy year in 2012, you don’t know how much I’d appreciate it. One other thing, I’d like to get closer to Jesus this year and just writing that down is a way to get started. Your an amazing woman and I will be praying for you as well.

I pray you “enough” 🙂
Recently, I overheard a mother and daughter in their last moments together at the airport. They had announced the departure. Standing near the security gate, they hugged, and the mother said, ‘I love you, and I pray you enough’.

The daughter replied, ‘Mom, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I pray you enough, too, Mom’.

They kissed, and the daughter left. The mother walked over to the window where I was seated. Standing there, I could see she wanted and needed to cry. I tried not to intrude on her privacy, but she welcomed me in by asking, ‘Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?’

‘Yes, I have’, I replied. ‘Forgive me for asking, but why is this a forever good-bye?’

‘Well…I’m not as young as I once was, she lives so far away and has her own busy life. I have some challenges ahead, and the reality is – her next trip back will be for my funeral,’ she said…

‘When you were saying good-bye I heard you say, ‘I pray you enough’. May I ask what that means?’

She began to smile. ‘That’s a prayer that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone.’ She paused a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in detail and she smiled even more. ‘When we said, I pray you enough, we wanted the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them’.

Then, turning toward me, she shared the following as if she were reciting it from memory.

I pray you enough sun to keep your attitude bright no matter how gray the day may appear.

I pray you enough rain to appreciate the sun even more.

I pray you enough happiness to keep your spirits alive and everlasting.

I pray you enough pain so that even the smallest of joys in life may appear bigger.

I was recently divorced after 25 years of marriage. It’s been hard since then, trying to take the high road and still include him in events, for the sake of our 21 year old. But I can’t do it anymore – he is flaunting all his affairs from our church (before our divorce) and it’s so hard to go to the church that I was born in – and see these women – and find out about his current relationship with a married woman from our church …. I just can’t handle it right now … please say a prayer that I can continue going to that church … it’s so hard – even the priest says he has never seen anyone with problems like I’ve had with my ex and members of our small church … thank you ….

Bless your heart! I was feeling a little down and this just brought me so much joy…Thank you for all of your prayers. My sweet son, his wife, and their three beautiful babies could sure use some extra prayers. He is a wounded warrior. He and his family are trying very hard to adjust and heal. My prayers will be with you and yours for sure! Merry Christmas.

What a wonderful post. Around here we pray for continued blessings to keep my husband at home as a SAHD. I love that he is here for the kids and that I can leave projects for him to accomplish. I know he can get to Ana’s website with no problem and I will get him to all the others you have mentioned.

Thank to you (and the others) for such empowering blogs !!!!!

Merry Christmas and continued Blessings to you and your beautiful family!

Please keep my best friend Breeze’s family in your prayers. She recently found out that her grandfather has Stage 3 esophageal cancer. As for myself, this is always a tough time of year because my father died on Christmas day, but I am trying to make the best of it since it is my first Christmas as a newlywed.

What a blessing you have become to me! My son recently told me that he is an atheist, and it simply breaks my heart. Please pray that God will send his way, people and words and music and situations that will bring him closer to Him and show him the love of God. I will pray for you as well. Merry Christmas girl!

Who could ask for a more appropriate gift. It’s been a tough year for many of us, myself included as I try to get my business up and running. Three months of some kind of lung infection has me drained beyond belief, but I just keep trudging along ~ trusting.

My prayer request though is not for my health or my business, but for two very close friends of mine who lost their 6-1/2 year old daughter Sydney on Mother’s Day this spring. My heart bleeds for their unfathomable loss, and I would do anything if I could figure out a way to ease their sorrow.

Sydney had Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) a neuro-muscular disease and though the disease robbed her of her ability to do what most of us take for granted, she continued to thrive. Sydney had the most upbeat personality and was constantly charming us with her beautiful blue eyes. She liked to stir it up, playing jokes on everyone and made us all laugh daily.

Syd was in a freak accident Easter Sunday. As the family played outside after dinner, Syd was swinging in a special swing daddy had built for her when her cousin’s dog ran in front of the path of the swing. The impact wasn’t very hard, I mean, her swing is small – not like the large ones at the playground… and the dog is soft and fluffy – right? Unfortunately her bones were weak due to her disease, and she ended up breaking BOTH femurs.

Even that didn’t stop her. Covered in a cast from ankles to hips, she went to her first softball game. Kami (her mom) pushed her around the bases on a cart as they played a team of Down’s kids. It was so fun to watch her play ball, she always cheered for both sided – lol

The next day, Kami was picking her up from school and noticed Syd was having a lot of trouble with junk in her lungs. With all the equipment they had at home, they just couldn’t clear it this time. They went to ER where her condition continued to worsen. The culprit – a fever, which continued to climb defying all meds. Syd’s fever was 108 for hours.

When we went up to see her that night, she seemed to peaceful. I thought it was strange that her hands could feel so cold as her fever rose so high. What I wasn’t accepting that night is the fact that her organs already shutting down. She had been through so many things throughout her life and this was just one other obstacle that she would pull through. God was going to make her one of his miracles because she was so good about telling the world about Him.

Pastor Don came up and together with the family, we prayed and prayed and prayed. I never imagined when we left the hospital that she would go to be with Jesus that night. She was still sporting the purple toenail polish I painted a few days earlier. I will never, ever, ever forget the phone call in the middle of the night, ever.

Last night I added a blog post asking for prayer for their family and included her mother’s heart wrenching words. Please, join hands with me and lift up the Potjer family this Chrismas, their first Christmas without Sydney.

I am so overwhelmed right now, I just don’t think I can write. I have a number of things that I would feel honored if you would pray for my family and me. It has been an extremely hard year. My health is very bad, our business, – going down the drains my husband looking for a job. And, we were blessed two years to the day of my first heart attack, so we now have a 10 year old. I had another heart attack last Dec. and the stents restonosised (scar tissue closed them up in April) I just found out I need stent in my legs…. anyway -I honestly can’t see what I am typing, I am that moved. I am crying. I read the other 50 plus, and I must say my prayer list just got a lot longer too. It is so funny (odd funny) I feel like I know so many of you bloggers because I follow you – yet you know nothing of me because I haven’t taken the leap yet to start blogging.

A combination of what if no one follows me, to, am I really all that talented, to even my camera isn’t that good. When I gather my thoughts a little better, and pull myself together, I am going to write back tomorrow. You are an angel Shaunna. I am reading a book about them right now. 🙂
Till tomorrow,
Carmen Skyles

Well if you’re giving them out, I’ll take one! Seriously, we’ve got big dreams, the hub and I, of starting a charitable foundation and using our talents to give back. You can pray for us that we reach our goal! And thanks for the little shout out…. delighted to have become friends this year, and cheers to a bright 2012.
xo
Kate

Bless you Shaunna! I love your blog, your attitude, your talents, your beautiful family. Your faith and words are always inspiring! I will be 60 yrs old soon. I stopped working about a year ago. Economic times are tough. My children are struggling and it makes me sad to see how my grandchildren are wanting for things that I wish I could change. I am blessed with a wonderful husband and a beautiful home – but I am feeling lost with no direction. Pray for me so I can figure out the next chapter in my life. Merry Christmas and a very Happy 2012!

Shaunna, thank you so much for the offer of prayer. What an absolute blessing. I would completely love to recieve prayer from you and in that prayer, I would ask that you also bless each of the gifts in your sweet family. Take the time you would pray for me, and pray for your family. I know you do already, it’s just that my life is so blessed and I feel so full that I would love to bless you back. So thanks for being willing, for opening yourself to so many, and for being the best you, God made you to be. Merry Christmas.

Thanks for giving us this gift! I am working hard to turn what looks like a bleak financial future around….please pray that I will Follow Him, and keep my eyes on the One who holds the future for us, count my blessings daily, and accept what He has planned for us.

You have such a generosity of spirit! I ask your prayers for my 25-year old niece, Sarah, my16-year-old nephew, Adam, and their mother – my sister – Dee, that they will both make choices to seek the better, rather than the easier, path; that they will embrace sobriety, honesty and God; that the future for them will be filled with opportunity to exhibit consideration for others and to garner feelings of self-worth for themselves. Thank you so much, Shauna, for your prayer offering. I will “pray you back” for your beautiful family.

Let me start by saying that you are a very inspiring woman. I truly enjoy reading about you, getting to know you…thank you for sharing your life with so many people. Thank you for sharing it with me…a virtual stranger. I guess that is what Jesus does for us. He makes strangers more familiar thru love and faith! Thank you for sharing your desire to pray for me. I am honored when someone really wants to get on their knees on my behalf! And I strive to get on my knees more often.
I guess that would be one of my prayers. To be steadfast in Jesus, to be patient with my children…slow to anger or frustration and quick to love on them! To be open completely with my husband…to give him all of me on a daily basis. And to do the same with my Jesus. To give Him my whole heart always, to trust in what He has in store for me. Lord knows His way is so much better than mine! And to love those around me that aren’t the easiest to love…and to teach my children the same.
Thank you for sharing your heart. It is a blessing to me…a stranger! May God continue to bless you and your family. Love in Jesus…

Wow, what a great thing to offer. I teared up reading it. (I tend to be a bit of a blubberpuss.) The sermon at our church this past week was about unwanted journeys and how even though they are unwanted, they are aren’t the end. God always has something better ahead. Our family has had our fair share of unwanted journeys this year (my FIL and my husband’s grandfather passed away within 3 weeks of each other), but we know that there are better days ahead. I’d ask that you pray we remember that better days are ahead. And I’ll be sure to pray you can get through your unwanted journeys with the same hope.

What an awesome post! I almost don’t even want to ask you to pray for me after reading all of these comments. So many heart’s have had to endure much worse and I will be praying a special prayer tonight for them. Me and my husband have been trying to sell some land for over 4 years and we finally built a house there to sell to get things moving…we are still trying to sell that new home and have had our current house on the market for 6 months, we are near desperation for something to sell, please pray that we find a buyer soon so that we can start to move forward in our lives. Thank You for what you do!

Simply beautiful post! Please pray for my twenty year old son diagnosed with lymphoma just last April. For nineteen years, he was the picture of health. He has been through chemo and radiation and now we pray it is gone. Because this took him out of college right at the end of the semester, he is a bit lost on what he wants to do. He mentioned feeling depressed and that breaks my weary heart.
My other son needs special prayers for his current situation…such a long story, but complicated.
Please pray for our whole family. We are all weary.

Shaunna ~ This is such an inspiring post. I think this would make a great e-book. I have been back more than once to continue to read everyone’s touching comments. You are such a wonderful person to reach out to us all the way you do. You simply blow me away with your kindred spirit. I had tears in my eyes, I laughed, I prayed for those I don’t even know. I know I don’t know you and you don’t know me, but it is strange how you feel like you know someone. I love that blogging reaches deep down and touches my soul some days ~ today being one. I just wanted to share my story. My husband & I have been married for a little over 2 years and together for 5. We have been faced with many of lifes biggest adversities early on & fairly young. We are both in our early 30s. My father lost his battle with lung cancer 3 years ago & I lost my job 3 months later. My husband has lost 2 grandparents. I was able to transition into a new career, which I love & allows me time to do things like this. When last year near this time we found out I was diagnosed with degenerative disk disease and would need to undergoe a serious spinal surgery. We were terrified not only physically, but emotionally and for financial reasons too. Well we found out one thing about our love…when faced with adversity of life we can and have been able to perservere. Our holidays so far have not all been filled with cheer. But this year, I’m so greatful to feel as though our souls are healing from the loss of my father. We are happy & in good health. We have created a home filled with cheer for the holidays! I hesitate to ask you to pray for us, when others have not overcome their obstacles. But if you wouldn’t mind…we are about to embark on our next uphill battle to try to have a baby in the coming year. We would love nothing more than to be blessed with a miracle to complete our family. May you all have a wonderous holiday season! You will all be in my thoughts & prayers.

I would be honored and humbled if you would simply pray for me the same thing you asked us to pray for you: that I would be open to growing as a woman, wife, and mother. To be more patient and kind with my children and to teach them to be so as well. To be slower to frustration, to be OK in the waiting, to love people first always and ask questions later. To see the world with fresh eyes. – This is my prayer as well….

What a beautiful post !! As I read everyone’s post, I realized just how fortunate and blessed I am. Just wanted to say that your post made me pause, take a deep breath, and thank the Lord for all his blessings. We sometimes get so wrapped up with “stuff” that we forget to appreciate the things we DO have. Family,health and love! Thank you ! I will keep ALL of you in MY prayers!

Shaunna,
Your heart is so beautiful I can hardly stand it! I feel the same as you do about the blessings I have received from blogging. I would have never dreamed it. My cup is certainly overflowing!
You are such a blessing to me and so many others. Thank you for shining so brightly for the Kingdom! Merry Christmas to you and your sweet loved ones!

Shaunna,
Thank you. I am so happy to have found your beautiful blog just this evening. I would be most appreciative if a few prayers would be sent in honor of my sweet sister who lost her husband to an automobile accident in April. She and her two children are going through their first Christmas without him. Thank you and I feel blessed this evening to have come across your blog. I also feel in wonderful company – knowing several of the sweet gals who have commented on your post already.
Merry Christmas and many blessings to everyone!
Mary

What an incredible (and really not small) gift Shaunna!!! So unbelievably inspiring and this isn’t the first time I’ve been inspired here at your piece of blogland. This past year has been a rocky one on the heels of 6+ very tumultuous years. Teenage angst is growing in our household (we have ages 15, 11, 9.5 and 21 mos in our home and a 12 yr old we don’t see (due to a way out there parenting/ex issue), just the tip of the ice berg. Christmas & my SD’s Birthday are always harder times as a result. Ex drama has reared it’s head once again (we’re a doubly blended/blessed family). The Ex drama has more than spilled over onto my eldest this year. Thankfully, we have insurance for counseling, it has been a blessing… yet there is much more to work thru. My paternal grandmother passed away. My father had a stroke (tho is recovering at an amazing pace…he’s such a strong spirit). DH’s SF has been in & out of the hospital repeatedly the last few yrs, but especially the last few months. I’ve felt for quite some time he’s reaching the end of his time here with us. He’s even said as much to MIL recently… coupled with memory & cognitive decline at an alarming rate, he’ll likely be relocating to a care facility after the holidays. DH’s DM will be near penniless once that happens or he passes and unable to support herself due to her physical & mental health. We are definitely part of the hard working middle class… getting by and blessed to be doing so, however not with an abundance stashed away to aide MIL. DH’s two DS’s are even less able to help than we are. I’ve repeatedly felt a strong calling for years to help a “family” out thru surrogacy. Almost did a decade ago, but the timing wasn’t right for them and then wasn’t right for us. I’ve been last on my list for a much longer time than I’d like to admit. Add several very stressful years with Ex legal/custody drama, a biz start up and I have some challenging work ahead of me. I need to return to a truly healthy/fit place to become a good vessel to fulfill that calling. There is potential for us to move to my DP’s house (renting to start… after a few yrs purchasing) with twice the space we have now. My DP’s are looking to downsize & have their space better fit their current/future needs. We’re packed into our 1400sqft, 3bdrm, 1.5 bath, 1920 cape like sardines. Eldest DD’s rm measures barely 9×9′, our boys share a 12×11′ rm, our master is only marginally larger and our littlest occupies our almost 4×6′ under the eaves WIC. My request is a complex one, but I feel we’re on the cusp of a huge shift that will lead to renewed bonds for our family & friends. Here it is: for us to be able to move to DP’s house (it will mean a fresh start for every single member in our family, better schools for our kids and we’d have the space to take in MIL); a quick home sale in a slow moving real estate market; patience and continued healing for DF & DD; wisdom, emotional maturity and understanding for my DD, DD’s DF & SM as well as DH’s Ex; vibrant health & fitness for myself & DH (I’ll need the energy that comes with it & DH needs to address his weight & fatty liver before it gets away from him) and last but not least smooth transitions for our children. Your generous nature is felt through & through. Thank you so very much!

What a wonderful gift, truly embodying the spirit of Christmas! Reading these comments has reminded me how lucky and blessed me & my family is and inspired me to look past my own set of troubles and say a prayer for those who need it most.

I would ask that you pray for a dear friend of mine. Her & her husband are two of the most amazing, kind, generous people that I know. They have struggled with infertility for several years and are now waiting for an opportunity to adopt. I pray that 2012 is the year that these two become a family.

What a sweet post! Teary eyed reading it! I would definitely love more prayer for a safe delivery and healthy baby boy. My due date is January 14 so not much longer. Also, that I would be able to stay at home full time next school year…that is a huge prayer of mine! Thanks so much and Merry Christmas to you and your family!

My dear friend and decorating/DIY partner Kim was just told yesterday that the surgery done on her foot looks like cancer. She’s a homeschooling mom of 5 including 2 adopted children: a blind daughter from China and a boy from Ghana who just joined their family a few months ago. She’s waiting to hear results but I don’t know that she will find out before Christmas. Please pray for peace for her and her family over the waiting period and for a good report.

Please pray for us to shore ourselves up financially, have financial peace, and change our family tree. I will also pray for your continued blessings and the ripples you create with your blog. Thank you.

We moved to Florida from North Georgia, 700 miles, after living most of our lives there (we are in our mid 50s). Lots of reasons why. Please pray that I will find friends and community here and employment for the rest of my family

Also, thank you so much for this beautiful gift. I am an Oncology Nurse Practitioner and would like to ask you to pray for my patients. They are all very special. Some are facing critical procedures and treatments in the upcoming weeks. Thanks again!!

I ask for prayers for my kids and that I my fulfill my job as a mother and give them exactly what they need when they need it. I ask for prayers for all the sick and suffering in my family, especially those who suffer in silence. I ask for prayers of courage. Courage to be who God knows I can be, courage to follow God’s path when he calls my name, and courage to face the days when I don’t think I am able.

Alright, I know that I’m super late to this post… I actually read it a few minutes after you posted it, but I didn’t leave a my prayer request because it could seem self-seeking. I have been so very blessed in my life, and I don’t want to come across as needing more. However, as I have been praying this week I was led to ask you for additional prayer because of all people, you would likely understand where my heart is in this request. I began my blog last April, and it has been a wonderful outlet to share my passion for design and creativity. I will continue to blog no matter what, but I would love to use its success to help contribute to our home’s budget (I know that would be a huge relief for my husband too!) I am seeking God’s wisdom in how to take the next step. I have recently realized the need to turn my blog’s success to Him… Just turn the whole thing over to Him and stop trying to do it on my own. Much easier said than done, but I realize it’s the only way to achieve real success. I find so much personal fulfillment blogging, and I amthrilled to share my passion with others. But how can I use that to help my family as well?? That’s my prayer request. Thank you so much. I truly appreciate your prayers.